Security officials swiftly ousted the Finance Minister on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, to avoid an escalating confrontation between Ken Ofori-Atta and Oliver Barker-Vormawor.
The convener of #FixTheCountry was in the Treasury Department. There, some retirees have been picketing for the past eight days in support of calls for complete exemption from the country’s debt swap schemes.
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Ofori-Atta, accompanied by others from ministries and security forces, came out to talk to pensioners and understand their concerns.
He told pensioners that picketing them was no longer necessary because the debt swap was a success, as the government ensured that all bondholders would be paid when their investments matured.
“Really, there is no reason for us to be sitting here because that assurance has been given on paper. I want to know what it is that you are afraid of or that you think will not happen. My issue is that now you have very little of the old bonds existing. This means that, in the event of a crisis, your ability to trade your papers is diminished. But that is the choice you made,” Ofori-Atta said.
But Barker-Vormawor tried to speak for the pensioners and asked the minister if he could be trusted to stop picketing without jeopardizing the pensioners’ funds.
His intervention was not accepted by the minister, and he asked his Barker-Vormawor, “Are you a pensioner?”
Realizing that the conflict could escalate, the guards eagerly kidnap the minister.
it is important because our conversation has been about building a protest culture. A culture where persons affected by public policy decisions by political officers do not sit aside but raise their voices and match that voice with the determination to show up when it matters.
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“When these things are happening, it is also important that persons are inspired by this in the spirit of resilience. So, with what these pensioners have shown, it is important that we the young ones also show up for them by mobilizing people to carry forward the message of resistance expressed even with their age,” Barker-Vormawor maintained.
But Ofori-Atta promised to address pensioners’ concerns after meeting with the president.
The pensioners are scheduled to meet with Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagvin and House leadership later in the day to explain their concerns.
